Justin Amash loses Right to Life support, claims politics are at play

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – U.S. Rep. Justin Amash considers himself the most pro-life member of Congress, but the Cascade Township Republican won’t be able to list Right to Life among his endorsers during his re-election campaign.

“This term his voting record hasn’t been with us and that’s what really counts,” said David Malone, the state group’s political action committee director. “Every term we look at voting records and positions and this time the board chose not to endorse him.”

Malone cited Amash’s two “present” votes against defunding Planned Parenthood and a vote against legislation outlawing sex-selection abortions as those against the group’s position.

Will Adams, Amash’s spokesman, said Amash voted his principle on the proposals, all of which failed.

“There is no doubt that Justin is 100 percent pro-life,” Adams said. “Any difference in opinion or position is that Justin is focused on policy and Right to Life sometimes can be focused on politics of the issue.”

The first-term lawmaker doesn’t believe in singling out an organization, even Planned Parenthood, for defunding, Adams said. The sex-selection legislation, which would have outlawed terminating a pregnancy based on gender would have criminalized a subjective act, similar to hate crimes, that conservatives object to, he said.

Amash’s stance is that abortions should never be performed and he doesn’t believe in the exceptions for rape and incest to which many subscribe.

When the Planned Parenthood proposal was coming to a vote, Adams said Amash wanted to offer broader legislation, as he had in the past, to restrict federal funding for all organizations that perform abortions. The idea was blocked by anti-abortion advocates.

Amash and the national Right to Life group also clashed recently when Amash considered offering a proposal that would severely restrict abortions being performed in Washington, D.C. Adams said the district has the most liberal guidelines for the procedure in the country.

Right to Life slammed the Republican for the proposal, which Amash may still offer for debate.

The group said Amash’s idea was attempting “to cover his backside” for his earlier votes, a contention the Congressman dismisses.

"Amash's pro-life voting record is the seventh worst of all House Republicans," Douglas Johnson, legislative director for national group, told the Christian Post last month. "With such a record, he is unlikely to rally pro-life support to his new flag – a flag that seems designed mostly to cover his backside back home."

Adams said Amash won't change his beliefs for the support of a single group.

"We've tried to work with Right to Life, but Justin is going to go ahead and do what he believes is right," Adams said.

The lack of an endorsement from the pro-life organization is unlikely to impact Amash’s re-election fate. He does not face a primary challenge and the group did not endorse his Democratic foes Steve Pestka or Trevor Thomas.

Thomas is pro-choice and has used Planned Parenthood services and women’s health as a central campaign issue. Pestka says he is personally opposed to abortion, but would not seek to make it illegal.